The Thinking Director's Blogsite

On Sunday I decided, that for a change, we would try a different local for lunch. I wanted to try a pub that was somewhat off the beaten track; one that had caught my eye whilst I had been cutting cross-country in the back lanes here in sunny Suffolk.

It was such a simple decision to take and yet in the context of business can open up a whole series of questions and thoughts upon brand management and delivery of service as to why a Customer may suddenly stop buying from you.

What was it that had buried itself sufficiently into my sub consciousness that caused my buying behavior to consider change? not only that, but it was interesting to note that the strength of the existing “brand” was insufficient to hold me.

I accept that a Sunday pub lunch is perhaps more whimsical than a new ERP or Accounts software purchase but the fundamentals still apply.

Take a moment to reflect upon your own businesses offering – how do you measure up on the AIDA sales tool? How robust is your offering to competitor switching and how strong is your value proposition?

There are a couple of pointers to my own buying behavior from my opening sentences – “for a change” and “caught my eye”

What would catch my eye in your business and what would it take to keep me?

Slowly and incrementally China is unfolding it’s strategy to becoming a dominant player in the global economy, perhaps to becoming the economic superpower; its certainly fascinating to watch and it’s latest acquisition is an endorsement to that strategy. I don’t want to comment upon China per se, there are far better and more knowledgeable commentators than I am; I wanted to comment upon how they are going about their strategy because strategy is firmly on their agenda.

China bought a carrier from the collapsed Soviet Union where it was lying unfinished in the Ukraine; now it is busy refitting and refurbishing it and it is believed to be the first of a planned five or six. Some thousand kilometres inland from Dalian where the Carrier is being fitted out, a replica Carrier has been built, complete with mock up helicopters and aircraft. The intention is to compile and build the systems used to operate the seagoing carriers and then presumably to train the naval operators.

One could say- “so what? – that’s the obvious thing to do” and there’s no argument there but what I find interesting is that they are actually doing it, contrast that against the many businesses that I come across that have no organised strategy, no formal plan in place as to either the route to market or even where the business will be in three or five years time. The reasons cited are “too busy” “it moves too fast around here” “it’s all done here (pause for patting one’s belly)” and of course the old chestnut ……”it takes too long to do and it’s a meaningless exercise anyway”

I’ll comment later in another blog upon my thoughts on business plans but for the moment lets stay with China.

Dismantle the situation and I see a really cohesive, structured plan being rolled out.

By the 2020s China wants a military that will be deployable globally. So they’ve bought a second hand/unused ship at the knock down price of $2om (contrast that with £3.9b signed by the UK in 2008 for the Queen Elizabeth Carrier!) invested further in the latest weaponry and alongside it have built a £1m training ship.

This approach mirrors what China has done with several traunches of its industry. MG-Rover factory was dismantled by Nanjing, shipped to China and re-assembled. Pilot builds were Rowe (SAIC) cars based on the old Rover 75 whilst at Longbridge, MGTF were trickled down the line whilst their engineers learnt from Ricardo et al.; today the new MG6, although designed in England is actually manufactured in China and the parts shipped across here for assembly at Longbridge.

Mmnnn…Isn’t that how the Nissan Motor Co started? Austin of Longbridge shipped the Austin 7 out to Japan for re-assembly by Nissan. (Datsun)

Now that may be a sweeping generalisation about what happened at MG but in essence it’s there. Witness the same strategy in action across in the States where the Chinese appetite for buying bankrupt manufacturing plants is unabated and American companies are scrabbling to enter into high tech partnership agreements with China.

And the results? – The entry cost into its desired strategy is clearly considerably lower, along with, one assumes lower gearing, the learning curve is accelerated, the plan is free from legacy in whatever form you define, the overall risk is reduced, both financially and from timing and the result is impressively achieved.

Has this relevance to UK business? I would suggest very much so and if we’re not already paying attention then we need to wake up pretty quickly and then be taking some serious action because there are some huge, fundamental changes happening in China that will affect almost every person in the UK of that there is no doubt.

Last month Lord Green, our Trade & Industry Minister, said in an interview that we must accept that the UK is no longer a price setting economy; instead it is being driven by Asia. What will that mean to your business? – actually lets ask a different question- where will your business be in five years time and what will it look like?

I challenge you -“What is your strategy?” … reflect for a minute and then reconsider it- would China consider your strategy meaningful? Do you think it’s as thought through as their plans would be if they were in your business sector?

I leave you with something else – spend a few worthwhile moments with Google to explore documentaries and articles about the emerging Chinese strategy- its eye opening to say the least. Maybe strategy should be on your agenda as well…